Laundry machine support



Sept. 17. 1940- T. J. LITLE; JR

LAUNDRY MACHINE SUPPORT Filed July 9, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l Igr v N TJ R M I M U m m y T. 6 T W Sept. 17,- 1940. I T. J. LITLE. JR 2,214,733

LAUNDRY MACHINE SUPPORT Filed July 9, 1937 .2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q Inv ENT [IR Mm; I am Jamal ATT BEND Patented Se t. 17, 1940 PATENT OFFICE.

LAUNDRY MACHINE SUPPORT Thomas J. Litle, Jr., Syracuse, N. Y., assignor to Easy Washing Machine Corporation, Syracuse, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware I Application July 9, 1937., Serial No. 152,799

4 Claims.

My invention relates to domestic laundry machines of the type wherein a washing vat and a rying vat are mounted in juxtaposition upon a common support.

An object of my invention is to provide a skirt structure, for hiding the driving mechanism of a laundry machine, which may be fabricated at a relatively small cost.

Another object of my invention is to provide a relatively inexpensive supporting structure for the vats of a laundry machine and the driving mechanism therefo-r.

Another object of my invention is to provide a strong rigid supporting structure for the vats and driving mechanism. of a laundry machine.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved method of bracing the legs of a laundry machine. I

More specifically, my invention contemplates the provision of a supporting structure for a laundry machine wherein the skirt, which underlies the vats of the machine, is formed by rolling two sheets of metal into substantially circular form, conforming in diameter to the diameter of the respective vats, and forming bridge portions between the circular portions so that a skirt substantially continuous in appearance is provided and, in addition, my invention contemplates the provision of a web or support for the driving no mechanism carried by said skirt which not only serves to support the driving mechanism, but also serves rigidly to secure the separate elements of the skirt together. i I

Other objects and advantages of my invention will. be more apparent from the following description when'taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front'elevation of a domestic laundry machine in which my novel skirtand supporting structure is embodied.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view taken on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a'view taken on the line l-l of Figure 3. Figure 5 is a view taken on the line 55 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a View taken on the line i5-6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a view illustrating the manner in which the legs are braced from the casing of the driving mechanism. I

The laundry machine of my invention comprises a washing vat II having a suitable washing element mounted therein, such as an agitator, and a drying vat 92 having suitable means mounted therein for drying the clothes, such as a perforated rotatable basket.

In the past, two methods of supporting the 5 washing and drying vats have been quite generally employed. One of these is to provide a rigid base extending beneath both of the vats, the outer edges of which are turned downward to provide a depending skirt extending beneath 10 vats for hiding the driving mechanism of the machine. The second method involves cutting circular openings in the base of the combined base and skirt structure of the first method, conforming in diameter substantially to that of the 15 diameter of the vats and supporting the vats on the upper edges of the openings thus formed. Either of these methods requires a rather expensive stamping and the use of a rather expensive machine to form the stampingj Moreover, the 20 cut out portions of-the second method are wasted. In my invention, the skirt is formed by rolling two sheets orstrips of metal into rolls conforming in diamter to the diameter of the vats and then utilizing bridging portions between the 25 independent rolls as a means of securing them together. The skirt thus provided is substantially unitary and continuous in appearance.

The skirt, generally indicated by the numeral i3, comprises a strip of steel M rolled so that 30 its diameter conforms substantially to the diameter of the washing vat with which it is to be used. At its top edge, as shown in Figure 5, the roll M is provided with a portion It of reduced diameter over the upper edge of which is 35 fitted a U-shaped rubber ring I? upon which the washing vat rests. The bottom of the vat is provided with a circular indenture or groove 18 which registers with the U-shaped rubber ring ii. The skirt portion for the washing vat thus 40 formed presents a substantially continuous wall with the side walls of the washing vat, as will be apparent from Figure 1. The bottom of the roll it is rolled inward, as indicated at I8, for a V purpose later to be described. 5

are used. The filler pieces are similar and the 55 method of securing them to the rolls is the same so that a description of one will suffi ce. The filler piece comprises a horizontal shelf portion 25 which closes the horizontal space inside of av line substantially tangent to both vats. A vertical portion 25, curved in cross section, as indicated in Figure 4, extends between the rolls Hi and 2! thus forming a substantially continuous skirt extending below and completely around both vats. The filler pieces may be secured to the rolls in any suitable manner, but I have devised a simple means of accomplishing this.

Portions of the rolls I l and 2! are cut out to form flaps 21, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. These flaps are then bent and welded to the inner vertical wall of the filler piece. Additional portions, adjacent the top edges of the rolls Hi and 2|, are cut out to form flaps 28 which are bent upward and welded to the underside of the filler piece. The filler pieces are thus secured to the rolls so that a substantially continuous rigid skirt assembly is formed.

As shown in Figure 3, the roll l4,'at 29, is cut out to form an opening 3|. A corresponding opening, indicated at 32 in Figure 2 and Figure 4, is provided in the roll 2i. The openings in the rolls enable the driving mechanism for the machine to be mounted closely adjacent and extend between the bottoms of the vats. As indicated at 33, the roll I4 is provided with a second cut out portion to accommodate a supporting plate or channel bar 34. A cut out (not shown) for the channel is also provided in the roll 2 I. The channel 34 extends across the bottoms of both vats and serves as a mounting support for the driving mechanism.

As shown in Figure 4, relatively narrow strips 3 6, constituting the ends of the roll it, extend over the top of the channel 34 and these ends are secured together by welding a reinforcing strip 3! to them. The ends 38 of the roll 2| are similarly secured together by welding to them a reinforcing strip 39. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, portions M of the roll 2!, and portions 42 of the roll M, are bent so that they lie parallel to the sides 43 of the channel 33. Nut and bolt assemblies 44 are then provided to clamp together the sides of the channel and the bent portions 4| and &2 of the rolls so that the rolls are rigidly secured to the channel.

The end of the channel 34, as indicated in Figure 2, is bent downward, at $6, and bolted or welded to a bracket M. The sides 43 of the channel are also provided with lugs 48 which are bolted to the bracket ll. The bracket M has arms M which extend to the side walls of the roll l4 and are bent at 5i and bolted, as indicated at 52, to the roll 14 in such position that the projecting ends of the bolts may be covered by the legs 53. The opposite end of the channel 34 has a turned down portion which is bolted, as indicated at 54, to the roll 2i, the heads of the bolts being covered by the leg 56. A bracket 51, interposed between the downturned portion of the channel and the roll 2!, has inwardly ex- The channel 34,

' for housing the driving mechanism, which are indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2, may be supported from the web in any suitable manner not necessary to be shown or described herein. The channel 34 is provided with openings 6! for the drive shafts which extend upward into the washing and drying vats.

The legs 53 and the leg 56 aresimilarand are attached in a similar manner to the skirt I3 so that a description of one will suffice. The leg 53, as shown in Figure 5, is provided with a lug 62 which lies in a horizontally extending slot formed in the skirt. A pair of additional lugs 63 lie in a pair of vertically extending slots cut in the skirt. A bracket 66 is welded to the inside of the leg for the reception of the head of a nut and bolt assembly 66. when the nut is drawn up tightly, the skirt will not be deformed. At 68, the inner, edges of the legs, which engage the side walls of the skirt, are curved outward to conform to the curvature of the lower edge of the side wall of the skirt so as to provide a seat on the leg for the skirt. At its lower end, as indicated in Figure 7, the side edges of the leg are extended and welded together at 69 so that the leg, at this point, is circular in cross section. Into the bottom of the legs may be fitted suitable casters 1 I.

To the lower end of the leg', by a nut and bolt assembly '72, a brace rod 53 is secured. The brace rod extends toward the center of the machine and is bolted, as indicated at T3, to a boss 14 depending from the bottom of the gear case 59. As indicated in Figure 1, each of the legs is independently braced and secured to the gear case. In the washing machines of the prior art, it has been customary practice to extend the brace rods from the legs and join them together so that if the leg were bumped against a rigid object the strain would be transmitted through the brace rods to all the legs. Consequently, if the machine were severely bumped, all of the legs would tend to bend or buckle in the same direction. In my construction, since each of the legs is independently braced against the gear case, which in turn is rigidly tied to the web, there is little tendency, if one of the legs is heavily bumped against an object, for the other legs to be affected by the strain.

As shown in Figures 2 and 5, extending upward from the interior of each of the legs is a tie rod 16, the upper end of which is threaded, as indicated at H, into a fitting T8. The lower end of the tie rod is held in position on the bracket 64 by a nut 19 and the fitting 18 is tied to the side walls of the vat by a nut and bolt assembly 8| which extends through the side wall of the vat. The tie rods thus serve to aid in retaining the vats in position on the skirt.

It will be apparent that I have provided a rigid supporting structure for a laundry machine in which the skirt is made up of separate pieces welded together to provide a unitary skirt assembly and that the web not only serves tosup port the driving mechanism, but also aids in making rigid the skirtassernbly. A rigid unit of great strength is thus provided which may be fabricated at a reasonable cost. be apparent that various changes and modifications may be made in the form and relation of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A laundry machine support comprising a pair of substantially cylindrical'members each It will further A spacer 61 is provided so that formed from a ingle strip of metal, said cylindrical members being arranged side by side and in contact with one another and being secured together adjacent a line between their axes, and a pairof filler pieces one at each side of and lying between said cylindrical members and substantially bridging the spaces between the outer peripheral portions thereof sothat the outer exposed sides of said cylindrical members and filler pieces form a substantially continuous and smoothly contoured skirt.

2. A laundry machine support comprising a pair of substantially cylindrical members each formed from a single strip of metal, said cylindrical members being arranged side by side and in contact with one another and being provided with mating integral 1ugs struck out from the walls thereof adjacent a line between their axes,

said lugs being joined together to secure said cylindrical members to each other, and a pair of filler pieces one at each side of and lying between said cylindrical members and substantially bridging the space between the outer peripheral portions thereof so that the outer exposed sides of said cylindrical members and filler pieces form a substantially continuous and smoothly contoured skirt.

3. A laundry machine support comprising a pair of substantially cylindrical members each formed from a single strip of metal, said cylindrical members being arranged side by side and in contact with one another and being secured together adjacent a line between their axes, and a reenforcing member passing through openings formed in said cylindrical members and below the upper edges thereof and adjacent a line between the axes of said cylindrical members, said reenforcing member being secured to the walls of said cylindrical members at a plurality of points.

4. A laundry machine support comprising a pair of substantially cylindrical member each formed from a single strip of sheet metal, said cylindrical members being arranged side by side and tangent to one another, a pair of filler pieces one at each side of the line of tangency of said cylindrical members and secured to the latter and substantially bridging the spaces formed between the line of tangency of the cylindrical members and the outer peripheral portions thereof so that the outer exposed sides of said cylindrical members and filler pieces form a substantially continuous and smoothly contoured skirt, and a channel member passing through openings fprmed in said cylindrical members and below the upper edges thereof and adjacent a line between the axes of said cylindrical members, said channel member being secured to the walls of said cylindrical members at a plurality of points.

THOMAS J. LITLE, JR. 

